scampicat

Again, I feel I live in a different place to everyone else!

I haven't been in a bar for the last couple of days, but during the Fiesta the bars were just as full of smokers as they normally are, and two sets of smoking friends have said they won't be going out to bars in the winter as they would rather smoke in comfort at home, no way will they smoke outside (unless it is the summer when everyone is outside anyway).


But I hope it does work so that I can go for a drink and don't instantly have to shower and wash my clothes when I come in!

agoreira

You must indeed be in a different place, but having said that, I've heard all that brave talk before, many many times! People that would never fly again when smoking was banned on aircraft, they'd never be going to the pub again, the "we'll show 'em" attitude, "pubs will be closing all over the place". My personal experience is these places survive without smokers, but smokers cannot survive without pubs. Personally, I don't know of any smoker that has stayed away from pubs or stopped flying, or any local pub that has closed.

jojojojojo

I know of a few pubs in my hometown that have closed and they do put the blame on the smoking ban. Its not simply because people cant smoke, its the fact that people dont stay and spend so much money if they cant smoke. Its fairly well known that there is a link between smoking and drinking, albeit psychological. Those pubs who have smoking areas outside are getting complaints from neighbours and the local councils and its not cheap to have to supply patio heaters etc, Many pubs have tried to take the "family restaurant/bar" approach, which has worked for some, but not others simply because of location, history, size, facilities.....all this and the recession too!

So I dont think its about smokers NOT going to bars at all, they simply dont go as often, stay as long or spend as much!

Jo xxx

jojojojojo

And I'm one person who will never fly long haul or anything over 3 hours because I wouldnt be allowed to smoke!

Jo xxx

agoreira

Spain is in no way unique, all the other countries have gone through all this (and in countries a lot colder than Spain) without too much of a problem. As for pubs closing in your town already, directly because of the ban, they've hardly given it a try, we are only a few days into the ban. I would suggest they were very much struggling long before this ban started, and this is just a good convenient excuse. No way could they go from successful bars to loss making concerns in a few days. Bars and pubs have been closing everywhere since long before the smoking ban was introduced. That's the nature of the market, a street in a town near me had 10 pubs at one time, it now has one, and all the others closed long before any smoking ban.

HBG

I saw a funny thing yesterday. The largest Spanish bar in the area, a complex really, with a normal bar mostly for tasty tapas, an enclosed non-smoking restaurant and a busy take-away area, as well as a well-stocked shop, has got the builders in. It looks as though they’re going to demolish the walls of the non-smoking part to turn that space into a smoking area.

When we went shopping at Carrefour we saw that the smoking part of the cafeteria had a large No Smoking sign on the door and was empty. They hadn’t even bothered to switch the lights on. There was a long line of tables and chairs outside full of smokers and overflowing ashtrays.

I suppose things will level out eventually, and the Spanish people will live even longer than they already do; wasn’t Sir Walter Raleigh rewarded by the Queen for bringing tobacco to the UK? Perhaps they’ll dig him up now and take away the honours bestowed on him.

Or, perhaps in a few years down the line our scientists will discover that smoking is actually good for you and we’ll get free Woodbine on the NHS.

rugbymatt

Not likely is it?

agoreira

There is talk of getting around the ban by setting up "smoking clubs", but the laws are very strict regarding these clubs. They must be non profit making, they cannot sell beer, or anything really (I could see that happening!), no children, and must be separate room with it's own entrance and no access at all to the main bar area. Sounds like a fun place to be, a good night out, like the old opium dens.

bil

It must be hell being a drug addict.

I think we will have a hard job telling if a bar closes due to this, because at the end of the day there are so many other negative things cutting down on people's cash.

jojojojojo

I guess my problem is that I'm not "happy" with flying at the best of times, I'm a nervous passenger to say the least. What is annoying is that my daughters and son in law work for an airline and I have turned down many very cheap holidays to Cuba, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Canada........ simply because I cant face 10 hours on a plane without a ciggie!!!!!

As for why or if bars close, of course there are many factors, sadly in times of recession it doesnt take much to tip them over. The landlords of the closed pubs I know in the UK may not be telling the truth as such, but they all say that the smoking ban and then the recession were the final nail in the coffin. One or the other would have been bad enough and a real struggle, but both coming along so close was the end!

.....and as for my local bar in Spain, I drove passed last night and the smokers seemed to be back inside (I saw two people sitting at a table inside puffing) and carrying on as if nothing has happened!???

Jo xxx

rugbymatt

£3.75 a pint... thats what is killing pubs in the UK.... look at any area that doesn't have £3-4 pints and you will see thriving pubs, simple economics, and couple that with a huge change in drink driving and you have a recipe for disaster, smoking accounts for too small a percentage, its just a good excuse.

Rotor

Ask your doctor for some Valium

agoreira

True! I'd hate to have to admit, even to myself, that I was a drug addict, and especially that my addiction was so strong that I couldn't go 3 hours without a fix.

jojojojojo

been there, done it - besides Valiums addictive LOL! Seriously tho, its less stressful to not bother. That is the one thing about cigarettes, they do have a calming effect. Funny tho when you think my daughters etc. Spend their entire working lives "up there" and dont give it a thought!

Jo xxx

jojojojojo

I can go for an unlimited amount of time without my fix. I go 8 hours + at work and very often dont have a cigarette til the evening when I'm at home. Its not that I have to have it, but when I'm nervous or stressed I want one and so I have one! But yes, I can call myself a drug addict, but I can also call myself someone who doesnt like being told what to do!

Jo xxx